Anyone who has owned a summertime car on the West Coast – be it a classic, a collectible, a convertible, or any other fair-weather automobile – knows the joy of getting one last run in before the sun sets on summer.
For many fans of British machinery that last trip often came during an event run by longtime organizer Colin Fitzgerald, the Sea to Sky All-British Rally. But when Fitzgerald retired from the automotive business several years back, the event went with him, leaving an end-of-season void that had many enthusiasts feeling the blues even before the skies turned grey.
Included in that list were Greg and Liz Wagorn, co-owners of North Vancouver’s Silk Cat Automotive. When Fitzgerald retired, many looked at the Wagorns as his heir apparents, but it took a while for them to warm up to the idea of reviving the rally.
“People had sort of been waiting on Greg for a few years to see if he was going to do something,” said Liz with a laugh. “One year he said, ‘Yes,’ and then he sort of looked at me.”
Thus was born the Sea to Sky All-British Rally revival, an annual late-September trip from the Silk Cat shop up to Whistler and back. The Wagorns hosted their first rally five years ago and haven’t looked back since, completing their fifth annual event this past Saturday with around 70 drivers taking part under perfectly sunny late-summer skies. The event has special appeal because of its positioning on the calendar.
“It’s the last run of the year for everybody before they put their babies to bed,” said Greg.
“It’s just to do that last kick at the can before you put away the cars.”
Greg and Liz drove their 2006 Aston Martin in this year’s rally. Greg is working on a 1958 Jaguar 150, but it wasn’t quite ready yet.
“I bought that thing almost 30 years ago,” he said with a laugh. “I told my little girl – she’s 24 now – probably 18 years ago, ‘you can drive it as soon as you get your license.’ Well, it’s still in pieces, we’re still putting it all together. Typical.”
Greg obviously loves the work, no matter how long it takes. The way he tells it, he was quite literally born to be a mechanic.
“My dad was a mechanic,” he said. “There were seven brothers, originally, and everyone was a mechanic. Little guy, little hands – it was always, ‘Hey, can you put this bolt in there?’ I always played with cars. My dad had a shop so we were always doing something.”
With the Sea to Sky Rally running again, the Wagorns now get to share that passion with other enthusiasts, particularly if the rally happens to fall on a sunny day (which it has in each of the past five years).
“People always seem to wait until that last minute to see what the sunshine is going to be doing,” said Greg. “A lot of the vehicles are open two-seaters. A lot of them don’t even have tops – they have umbrellas.”
And these being classic British machines of all shapes and sizes – Jaguars, MGBs, Range Rovers, Morgans and more – Wagorn does take the necessary precautions before the trip begins.
“I always warn Mitchell’s Towing that we’re all heading up,” he said with a laugh. “But we’ve all so far made it.”
That the machines still work well is a testament to the owners, said Greg.
“Everybody keeps them in pretty good shape,” he said. “The British car guys, they really spend a lot of time on their cars. They really care for their cars. … These guys, they’re pretty dedicated.”
You don’t own a British classic by accident, said Liz.
“Usually when people purchase a British car they’ve sort of gone out of their way to pick something they really wanted,” she said, adding that the rally is much more than just a trip up the highway for the drivers. “It’s not just to get from A to B to C. It’s nice to share the enthusiasm with each other about the cars.”
